A Teacher on the Board: Poacher or Gamekeeper? A Personal Reflection

The models of international school governance are many and varied. Most, however, include at their centre a board of some description whose members are trustees, directors, governors or some such. Some schools, perhaps by choice or, more commonly, because their legal status in their host country requires it, have two boards.In such cases, however, it is usually clear which of the two assumes the duties and responsibilities of what in other schools is simply referred to as 'the board'. The size and composition of these boards, how frequently they meet, to what degree they create and use committees, and so on, again vary enormously. Just as diverse are the conventions, practices, rules and ruses that account for the membership of boards.Few schools, at least in my experience, would have boards that did not include some parents of children currently attending the school. Indeed, the articles of association of some schools require that most or all board members are current parents. Also common on the boards of international schools are members of the local community who probably have no direct connection to the school but who may bring valuable local knowledge, specific expertise (often financial), or even useful contacts. In some cases embassies or significant corporate sponsors will have guaranteed seats on the board. And, sometimes, boards will include a teacher or other member of the staff who works in the school.A teacher on the board. . . Seldom is there more than one. Often there is none. But where a teacher is on the board, he or she occupies a rather delicate position. She will be privy to information and knowledge not available to the rest of her colleagues. She will almost certainly have the Head of school (ie her 'boss') attending board meetings and they may not always agree. Moreover, she will have a vote whereas the Head (usually) will not.Within the board meeting she is part of the body to which the Head is accountable. But the following morning in school the relationship has been reversed. She may also be bearing the burden of being expected by her peers to fight for teachers' interests. Parent board members are often required to wear two hats and the same is sometimes true of other board members. But few must walk a line quite as fine as a teacher board member. Perhaps for this reason the presence or absence of a teacher board member is often controversial.International schools may be said to comprise constituencies. Parents, clearly, are one constituency. They have a very direct interest in the school: it is their fees (usually) that sustain the school, and they will assuredly have opinions about what goes on in the school. That parents are usually included on the boards of international schools is therefore unsurprising. (Not that other board members don't sometimes worry that parents are too close, too immediately involved, to see the wood for the trees.)Another constituency, it can easily be argued, is the staff of a school. These comprise the teaching faculty and the non-teaching staff. It may also be argued that in many cases the longevity of association and depth of commitment of these employees give them a somewhat deeper stake in the school than most parents could claim. Certainly, some teachers come and go within a few years (as do many parents and students) but it is not uncommon for international school staff to remain into a second or even a third decade of employment. Few parents could claim that length of association with a school. (And so, while we are at it, could rather few school Heads.)Yet, whereas the presence of parents on the board is generally taken as a given, the notion of a teacher on the board frequently causes raised eyebrows or worse. Customers (one way of describing parents) may play a role in the governance of the school but employees, seemingly, may not.One fiction that may quickly be dismissed is the fanciful notion that the Head (an employee of the school too, of course) attends board meetings and so there is no need for any other staff member to do so. …